Smart meters are widely seen as the way to free consumers from exploitative billing blackmail, give consumers control over their power consumption and also restore a growing and sustainable revenue stream to embattled ELM.

In a catastrophic own-goal by ELM in 2019, then Municipal Manager Oupa Nkoane illegally cancelled the programme, plunging thousands of residents and businesses into chaos and starting a wave of illegal connections which has cost the municipality billions in lost revenue.

In a later record-breaking R500 million judgment by the Johannesburg High Court, the contract was re-instated and a High Court order issued last year forcing ELM and service provider BXCSA to re-launch the money-spinning programme.

Now businesses and residences at which the hi-tech devices – which allow consumers to track consumption and even see if their power is being stolen – were installed in the past along with supporting street infrastructure can expect visits by appointment from BXCSA in the near future.

It is understood that  SE3 and SE6 in Vanderbijlpark are designated as the first areas to audit but concerns over proper consultation – which is an ELM not BXCSA responsibility – halted it temporarily.

BXCSA, which received wide praise for continuing to support at own cost the smart meter programme for months after the illegal ELM termination, says it is fully committed to both a fully transparent and inclusive process on both intended audit and later installations.

BXCSA has reportedly already set up offices and a call centre in Vanderbijlpark to both audit and later reactivate existing meters before a planned new drive to expand installation throughout Emfuleni.

Many residents, businesses and stakeholders previously against smart meters are now active supporters – especially after the High Court confirmed the legality of the original Public Private Partnership (PPP) and awarded  BXCSA the record R500 million judgment.

Prior to the illegal termination, BXCSA had built state-of-the-art infrastructure, creating about 200 decent jobs, and an advanced smart meter programme said by experts to be more advanced than those in Johannesburg and Tshwane with far greater budgets. Tragically, all the BXCSA jobs were lost when ELM terminated illegally in mid-2019.